By Brandon Henry
AFRO Intern
A single loose wire is said to be the cause of the marine accident that led to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and the death of six highway employees on March 26, 2024, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported Nov. 18.
During a public meeting at the agency’s headquarters, NTSB officials shared the results of their investigation into the disastrous crash of the Dali, a 984-foot-long container ship. It was determined that a breaker randomly opened as the result of a loose wire located in the ship’s electrical system, which eventually caused two vessel blackouts that cut propulsion and prevented operators from steering the ship.
Investigators found that wire-label banding blocked the wire from being fully seated in a terminal block spring-clamp gate, resulting in a poor connection.
In the wake of the blackout, the Dali started to drift toward the 17th pier of the Key Bridge. Though there was a collaborative effort by the bridge team and the pilots of the ship to change the trajectory, the lack of thrust from the ship and close proximity to the bridge made these efforts go in vain.
As a result, a fair amount of the bridge fell into the river, and parts of the pier, bridge and trusses fell onto parts of the ship.
There were eight people on the bridge at the time of the incident: an inspector and a crew of seven road maintenance workers. Six of these people died as a result of the collapse, and the death count would’ve been higher if workers had not stopped motorists from driving on the bridge.
“Our investigators routinely accomplish the impossible, and this investigation is no different,” said Jennifer Homendy, NTSB chairwoman in a statement. “The Dali, at almost 1,000 feet, is as long as the Eiffel Tower is high, with miles of wiring and thousands of electrical connections. Finding this single wire was like hunting for a loose rivet on the Eiffel Tower.”
“But like all of the accidents we investigate, this was preventable,” said Homendy. “Implementing NTSB recommendations in this investigation will prevent similar tragedies in the future.”
A key part of the Key Bridge collapse and the ensuing deaths can be attributed to the bridge being prone to collapse due to hits by ships or vessels, an issue that has only been raised since its 1977 opening, officials said.
In 1980, Blue Nagoya, a container ship from Japan, made contact with the Key Bridge after it lost its thrust. The Blue Nagoya was 390-feet-long and didn’t cause major damage to the bridge. In comparison to the Blue Nagoya, Dali is 10 times bigger.
A report about the vulnerability of bridges across the country when hit by larger boats was released by NTSB in March of this year. In the report, it was found that the Maryland Transportation Authority, as well as other bridge owners, were more than likely not aware of the damage a boat collision could cause to these structures.
Thirty bridge owners identified in the report were sent letters by the NTSB, urging them to conduct evaluations to their bridges. The agency also urged them to create plans to lower possible risks. Everyone that received a letter responded, and recommendation statuses are on the NTSB’s website.
NTSB also sent out new safety recommendations to the US Coast Guard, US Federal Highway Administration, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK), the American National Standards Institute, the American National Standards Institute Accredited Standards Committee on Safety in Construction and Demolitions Operations A10, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Synergy Marine Pte. Ltd, WAGO Corp. (the electrical components manufacturer) and other bridge owners nationwide.
A summary of the Nov. 18 meeting, results of the investigation, along with recommendations and findings can be found on ntsb.gov.